ACCORDING to an MVK agency survey carried out for the SME daily, most people have rather negative feelings about the current government's performance.
When asked to mark the government on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the worst grade, 57 percent of respondents gave it a mark of 4 or 5.
Certain leading politicians themselves were also surveyed. Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda refused to give his own government a mark, while Béla Bugár, the chairman of the Hungarian Coalition Party, gave the government a 2, as did Pavol Hrušovský, the leader of the Christian Democratic Movement, which pulled out of the governing coalition in February.
Others, however, were less appreciative. Robert Fico, chairman of the main opposition party Smer, gave the government a 4 minus. Free Forum leader Zuzana Martináková and Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Deputy Chairman Milan Urbáni both gave the government a 4, while Communist Party Vice-Chairman Karol Ondriaš opted for 5.
Meanwhile, around 60 percent of the people surveyed think that they could do at least as good a job as those on the party candidates lists for the June 17 general election, with only 16 percent saying that they would be worse candidates.
MVK agency head Pavel Haulík said that the public views MPs as people who only raise their hands in parliament in exchange for a good salary, with no better qualifications and skills to do so than the rest of the population.
- Spectator staff